Canadian Arctic and Rocky Mountain glaciers showing net mass balance decline

A study, released today by Statistics Canada, covering three prominent Arctic and Rocky Mountain glaciers, shows that the glaciers in both regions are shrinking - although those in Rockies are shrinking faster. (via BigCityLib). My question, looking at these charts, is what percentage of the glacier's mass do these numbers represent.

Cumulative Net mass balance, Western Cordillera glaciers
(click the graph to get a better look)

Cumulative Net mass balance, High Arctic glaciers

According to the study, the glacier ice mass balance is "thought to provide one of the clearest signals found in nature to monitor ongoing trends in climate."

Pasterze Glacier, Austria's mightiest, has lost half its volume since 1851

The Pasterze Glacier is Austria's longest, currently approx. 8.4 km. in length. It is about 1800 hectares in area and is located in the Eastern Alps, directly behind Austria's largest mountain, the Grossglockner. It is shrinking by approx. 10 m per year and has lost about half its volume since measurements were first taken in 1851.

The photo at left from 1910 shows the Pasterze in its prime, an imposing feature in the valley where it ended at the time. Now, the terminus of the Pasterze has retreated each year since the heavy snowfall of 1965-66.


Tatiana Iliina has created an abstract painting recognizing this mightiest of the Austrian glaciers.

Not surprisingly, the painting is entitled "Pasterze Glacier". As is her customary practice, Tatiana has used a palette knife technique to execute this painting. This is the 33rd painting in Tatiana's "Receding Glaciers" collection.

With this painting, Tatiana is taking the genre to the next level. While in the past, each painting has been sold, the plan now is to build up a collection of these paintings to be available for exhibition both online, in galleries or possibly other venues.

For the time being this painting is still available for sale. However, once the exhibition is established, the availability of these paintings will be reduced and the price will be increased.

(Nov. 15/10) this painting has now been sold)

Online Exhibition by eco artist Tatiana Iliina

"The Glacier Collection" is a series of captivating abstracts that celebrates the beauty of the planet's glaciers and draws attention to the fact that most of these glaciers are receding at a rapid pace.

This online exhibition has been conceived by Montreal artist Tatiana Iliina to allow access to as great a number of people as possible.

This painting is entitled "Grinnell Glacier", one of the famous glaciers of Glacier National Park in the U.S. The painting is 30x36" and is painted in acrylics.


















(the painting was sold to a private collector)

The Whitechuck Glacier

The Whtiechuck Glacier is located in the North Cascades in Washington State, USA.

This was the 15th painting in the series. (this painting is in a private collection)

Meltdown: abstract Glacier painting #28

"Meltdown" is the latest abstract glacier painting by Tatiana Iliina.

Iliina is a Russian Canadian artist who has been painting glacier abstracts since 2007 that recognize the problem of disappearing and receding glaciers all over the planet.

"Forces of Nature" - New Glacier Painting by Tatiana Iliina

Canadian artist Tatiana Iliina has completed another abstract glacier painting. This one is entitled "Forces of Nature" and acknowledges the unfathomable powers that have resulted in the shrinking or disappearance of most of the glaciers on the planet.

What a winter it was been in Canada!

Let's go back and review the norm and the actual for each of the past few months:

October norm: trick-or-treating with winter coats over costumes in hard frozen cold, or icy drizzle or snow

October '09: trick-or-treating was in light jackets, or just the costumes

November norm: several snowfalls, weeks of -10 C weather or colder.

November '09: no snow, green grass, flowers in the garden, felt like early October weather

December norm: lots of wet snow, occasional warm periods, some very cold stretches

December '09: only slightly below freezing most of the time, with a fair bit of snow

January norm: deep freeze, tons of snow

January 2010: variable weather some snow, no very cold weather at all

February norm: deep freeze, lots of snow, possible brief thaw

February 2010: + temps most of the month, a scattering of snow, milder than March should be

March norm: usually ranges from extreme cold to near freezing, plenty of snow

March 2010: winter is finished - what winter?

Of course Canada is a huge country. This year there was some colder weather out west in Edmonton and Saskatoon but it has been warm right across the country since February.

Environment Canada has confirmed that this has been the warmest winter on record.

2009 was also the warmest winter on record in Australia.

The Rhone Glacier - A Classic Case Study in Receding Glaciers

Because of its location in relatively accessible Switzerland, the Rhone Glacier has been somewhat of a tourist attraction since the 1800s or even earlier.

So among the thousands of glaciers around the world that are receding or have already disappeared, the Rhone Glacier is one of the ones that has been observed the most over time.

Here's a collage that shows the shrinkage of the Rhone Glacier:

It looks extreme but that older photo could have been from the 1800s. Still, there is little doubt that this reduction in the size of thousands of glaciers around the world is going to have an increasingly noticeable effect on river flow and fresh water supplies on everything from drinking water to irrigation to navigation.

Also a pretty darn good reason to paint the glaciers. In this abstract series by Tatiana Iliina, viewers are encouraged to appreciate the natural beauty of glaciers and, possibly, to reflect on just how precious and irreplaceable all the natural features of our planet are.

This is the latest painting, the 26th, in Tatiana Iliina's glacier series:

 

The Rhone Glacier painting is 30 x 36 inches, acrylic on canvas, using the palette knife technique.